Day trips from Munich

I just want to recommend checking out Mike's Bike Tours for your time in Munich. They do several versions of tours around Munich AND they do a cool trip now to Neuschwanstein. Google them.

A note on Mike's - they cater to a young/casual crowd, so if you're looking for tons of detailed info they would likely not be the best fit. You can read thorough reviews of them on TripAdvisor's website.

I would recommend going to the Chiemsee as a very nice day trip from Munich. You take the train (using the Bayern ticket) to Prien (about half way between Munich and Salzburg) and once in Prien you can easily walk 15 minutes to the lake where you take a boat to as many or as few islands as you please. We went to Herrenchiemsee which is a very fancy castle(Ludwig's replica of Versailles) and very much enjoyed it and then went on to Fraueninsel where we had dinner before catching the boat back. You could then move on to stay in Salzburg and explore Salzburg the next day. We enjoyed Hellbrunn Castle and Untersberg (cable car ride to top of mountain) in Salzburg along with the city sites. Look into the Salzburg card--we saved money using it.

you can take a day trip to dachau concentration camp, it is about 1hour train/bus ride from munich, it is well explained in rs book, and you can also take a tour from munich.

If you have a car, I highly recommend Rothenburg ob d. Tauber. It's a well preserved meidevel town with old city walls, cobbled street and beautiful buildings. Well worth a trip.

Other good side trips I've taken is a train to Innsbruck. If you have time there, take another train to Brenner Pass, not much to see at the pass, but the trip there is very pastoral and beautiful through the Alps valleys. Also consider Garmisch-Partenkrichen or

There is a Tour company located in the Munich train station that provide a day tour to Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Oberammagau. As you walk to the platforms - turn left to the end of the tracks - located in a small office. We took the tour - it was well worth it.

I've been to Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau, Oberammergau, and Linderhof. I never needed a tour company. Those trips are so easy to do on your own and a lot less expensive that way.

As for Rothenburg ob der Tauber, you don't need (or want) a car. According to Michelin, fuel alone for a one way car trip is €30. With the train, a €19 Bayern-Ticket-Single (it sounds like you are doing this solo) will cover your regional train transportation for a day. There is too much to see in Rothenburg; I would do it as an overnight trip.

As for Salzburg, there are 2 hour regional train connections leaving Munich hourly. Again, you can do this trip in a day for €19 with a Bayern-Ticket.

can do Rothenburg without a car. I've done it twice.

station is a fair distance from the old city And most of the old city is a car-free pedestrian zone, so you will probably walk, anyway.

Best site for train schedules is the German Rail query page. That's where db.de and bahn.de direct you to anyway. Might as well start there.

You can do Rothenburg without a car, but last Fall when we were there it would have taken 3 trains, plus the train station is a fair distance from the old city. If you want to try without a car, check train schedules ahead of time on www.db.de.

The Dachau tour with Radius Tours (see RS book) is great. The city of Ulm is a 90 min. train ride and has the fabulous Ulmer Munster (cathedral) with the tallest steeple in the world. Ulm also birthplace of Einstein. www.tourismus.ulm.de.
If interested in WWII then consider Berchtesgaden: 3 hr. trip. http://www.eagles-nest-tours.com You exit Berchtesgaden HBF and walk just across street to tour group departure. This is, without a doubt, best tour I have ever taken.
P.S. wouldn't recommend Rothenburg as day trip because connections are bit crazy BUT if you can go and spend the night you MUST do the Nightwatchman's tour (starts at 8 pm I believe. Highlight of a day in Rothenburg.

Hope you have a fabulous trip!

Just three words for you. Innsbruck. Innsbruck. Innsbruck.

Sorry Doreen but I can't recommend Innsbruck.

We stayed there on an overnight to break up our trip from the Alps to Halstatt and we couldn't wait to leave. It's quaint enough but it's overcrowded with merchants just interested in squeezing money out of you.

There are MANY other places worth your time and money just outside of Munich...I'd try Salzburg.

yeah, my mom can't stand Innsbruck either, way too touristy and crowded for her. We're taking my parents to Austria as part of our Bayern trip this fall and she actually said "you're not putting Innsbruck on the itinerary are you?".

Sorry to hear that the naysayers have taken control of the subject, but Innsbruck hardly is 'stale strudel'. It has a spectacular panoraman right from downtown, shopping arcades (the largest Swarovski store is easily found), and more history than any strudel ever offered. As the capital of the ancient duchy of Tirol (North/East/South) it offers festivals and local color galore. The Goldene Dachl area is no more over-run with tourists and merchants than the Getreidegasse in Salzburg or Kärntner Str. in Vienna.
Apart of Berg Igls and the Olympic jump easily seen from downtown, there is a large castle (Ambras) nearby, plus the Swarovski factory in Wattens, and my favorite Tirolean valley, Stubai, just south of town. Austrians evidently hold this area in higher regard than some of the RS adherents, but I would never dismiss such a city out of hand.